A/N: Regarding the question of Betas. My Beta profile is set up and I currently am accepting requests. The details are on my Beta profile, but here's some general information:
- Anything from K to T rating (Or M without an overload of smut, or homosexually oriented couples, like Tomco or Janstar)
- SVTFOE, Zootopia, P&F, and a lot of Anime Fandoms + 'Old' Cartoons or the so-called 'Cartoon Network and Disney Classics' (I've watched most of them and at least vaguely remember them, so it shouldn't pose an issue)
- Preferred language: English.
- Any genre, but I'm most experienced in Romance, Drama, and Fantasy
- Send me a PM with the general concept of the story and what you would wish for me to devote my attention towards (Character interactions, structure, plot, etc.)
Also, I have a small question/favour to ask you guys.
I need to know if anyone here is good at drawing digital art and whether they'd be willing to do a small commission for me as a favour. It does have something to do with this story and I'd be really thankful to anyone who accepts my request. PM me for the details; I don't wanna spoil anything. You'll also get a small 'reward' in return :)
P.S. I know I said that I'd start with Marco's trial but I still have to come up with the nonsense he's gonna have to do, so here's the other bit that takes place on Earth.
Replies to the latest reviews:
RedHood001: He's one of my favourite OC's. So charming, so innocent, yet so goddamn annoying xD. And The Scotsman is one of my all-time favourite cartoon characters!
DonDonatek: Hehe, you've not seen the last of Prince Prince Shining, the biggest troll I've ever created! And I still have to come up with stuff for Marco's trial, so gimme a week or two xD!
RobLebron: It'll be explained, don't worry. It's called story build-up! And the forces of evil are on vacation atm, so expect a lot of humour in this chapter, not much action :P.
Rock Raider: Not really. He's the same annoying lovable wimp as before, and you'll find out why he's returned. And don't worry, his trial won't be something to be taken too lightly; This was just the warm up.
Disclaimer: All characters from Star vs. The Forces of Evil belong to the creators of the show. The plot of this story and any original characters that may appear in it, however, do belong to me and I would kindly ask you to inform me should you want to use anything from this story in your own fanfic.
Beta read by ElleFreak.
Story cover by Luzz015. Be sure to check her out on DeviantArt!
Star vs. The Forces of Evil: Staring it up!
Chapter 7
The Royal Wimps
Part 1A
"Greetings, Sir and Madam Diaz. I see you both look as young and healthy as I remember you!" Prince Shining said upon entering the house and getting an opportunity to greet the married couple. They both laughed at the statement, flattering as it was.
"It's nice to see you too, your highness," said Rafael. He didn't really know the prince that well, and neither did Angie, so they'd agreed to act somewhat formal towards him. Shining wasn't bothered by it, for he'd come to the same conclusion. After all, his visit had lasted, what, a day? But he was a friend of Star's, so both Angie and Rafael would treat him as such.
"I apologise for my sudden departure back then. But the life of a noble is always busy." He bowed his head half-apologetically. He then turned towards Star, and spoke, "Shall we go to your room? The matters I need to discuss with you are... delicate and... private."
Star took note of his bland expression and tone, which was unusual for the ever-cheery prince. She nodded and looked at Angie. "Can you bring us some chocolate milk upstairs?"
"Sure thing, dear. You two just head upstairs. I'll bring it up in a flash."
"Thanks, Mrs. Diaz." Star looked down at Zora, who'd remained silent during the exchange of words. "Would you like some chocolate milk, too? Or would you rather have something else to drink?"
"Chocolate milk sounds good," Zora responded, smiling. She'd drunk the brown liquid once or twice already and swiftly became a fan of the delicious taste.
The trio headed upstairs to Star's room. As promised, Angie brought two glasses of chocolate milk upstairs and departed soon after. They sat down on Star's bed, with Zora in between the two royals.
"So," Star began, slowly sipping on her milk. "What did you wanna talk about that so 'delicate' and personal'?"
Prince Shining hesitated to answer and drank some of his own beverage. He then placed the glass down on the floor before his feet and smiled. "How are things with you and Marco going?"
Star wanted to question his sudden change of topic, but decided not to, and replied, "They're going pretty well. I mean, almost nothing much has changed between the two of us, oddly enough, but I can't really complain."
Indeed. Star had thought that being in a relationship with Marco would drastically change their behaviour toward one another and spark some romantic tension. As time went by, she realised that this was not the case. Aside from their recent date, holding hands, and the occasional kissing, things remained the same as when they were 'only' best friends. This made her wonder whether they'd been just friends to begin with. Perhaps there'd always been something more right in front of them but they were too busy chasing after their crushes, Oscar and Jackie, to notice it.
Whatever the case was, Marco was hers now, and she was his. Just two dorks enjoying each other's company to the fullest extent. She couldn't help but sigh blissfully at the sudden thought; Not that she'd ever admitted it to Marco! After all, she had a reckless reputation to uphold! Maybe after they're officially married...
"I'm glad to hear that."
Those words snapped Star out of her daze. She shook her head rapidly and blushed.
Stupid, goofy emotions! Stop it!
Luckily, Shining seemed to be too focused on something else to take notice of her embarrassment. She took a composing breath of air and said, "What about you? How's life been treatn' ya, Prince Shining?"
"Actually..." Shining trailed off, awkwardly, and scratched the back of his head. Star raised an intrigued eyebrow at him. "I'm not sure if the term 'Prince' will be viable for much longer..."
"Huh?"
He sighed and let himself fall onto the bed. "My father and mother decided to step down and chose me to take their place! The coronation shall be held tomorrow!"
"Seriously? That's great!"
"No! It's anything but great!" He retorted and sat upright, looking at her. Star was surprised by his angry attitude but commented not as she saw that he was ready to explain himself.
"I've already told you that our traditions differ from yours, right?" Star nodded. He sighed, and continued, "Well, our law demands that the King or Queen be wed within 24 hours of his coronation!"
Star now understood the prince's unease. She'd been given one week to find a suitable King. He only has 48 hours, maybe less! But how did she fit into the picture... Wait! Did he...
"You don't want me to marry you, do you!?"
"What!? Good Heavens, no! That's not at all why I came to you!" His response was swift and frantic. Star believed him.
"Can you two stop yelling!?" Zora's sudden outburst shocked the two, particularly Star, who knew her as a shy and quiet being and hadn't once heard her raise her voice, much less yell! The small girl, reading the situation, chuckled. "Sorry..." she murmured awkwardly. "I-I thought this was becoming a thing and wanted to join in..." she looked away from the two and continued drinking her milk.
"Aaaalrighty then...?" Shining said, turning back to Star. "As I was saying, I could never demand such a thing. I've told you already; I do think you're a nice girl, but my heart had been captured by another."
"You mean, Brittney?" Star remember the prince swooning all over her and even having a professional artist draw a portrait of her.
Shining nodded, sadly. "Indeed. You see, the reason I've come to you is that I am in dire need of your assistance." Shining trailed off. "I spoke to her a few days ago..."
Flashback
Brittney was hanging out at the mall with her fellow cheerleaders, a brunette and a blonde. They were in the middle of a very vivid and above all loud conversation.
"And that is why I prefer Gucci designer handbags over J.W. Anderson ones," Brittney stated. The three were in the middle of discussing the latest line of designer purses and clothing. Not that either of the two girls could afford any of the items, but Brittney was more than happy to throw out the junk from last season and replace it with the latest one, so she really had no problem with giving it away to her fellow cheerleaders.
She could hardly call them her friends. They were just the girls she hung out with when she had nothing better to do.
So they were her friends.
Kind of.
But not really.
Regardless of their assigned status, the two didn't seem to mind Brittney's... 'strong' personality and enjoyed hanging out with her. Plus getting free designer clothing every now and then really helped pump up a gal's popularity in school.
"Hey, Britt, I was wondering; How come you have so much fancy designer clothing at home but never wear any?" The blonde one asked.
"Oh, you don't own it to wear it," she responded dully. "It's just so you can say that you have it and show off the amount of money you have. I mean, do you seriously think anyone finds that stuff remotely attractive?"
"Makes sense, I guess," The brunette admitted.
"Anyway, enough small-talk." Brittney pointed at herself in that smug, 'I'm better than everyone else' manner, and said, "Momma needs some new shoes. So why don't we head over to that fancy shoe store and-"
Before she could finish her phrase, she noticed that her two not-friends had stopped and were staring wide-eyed at something before them. Brittney frowned irritably at the two.
"Alright, what could possibly be more important that listening to me talk about getting new shoes?"
"That," both replied in unison. Brittney arched an eyebrow at their strange behaviour and, upon turning her head in that direction, saw what they meant.
A line of men was marching out of one of those dimensional-doohickeys that Star kept opening at the school with her scissors and jumping through them with that other dweebazoid, Marco. The men formed two lines in front of the portal and stood still, their hands behind their straightened backs and their heads held high. One of the men, distinguishable from the others thanks to his fancy hat, proclaimed, "Now announcing the arrival of his Highness, Prince Prince Shining of Alwaysland!"
On queue, Shining stepped through the portal, smiling, his face beaming with pride. The shoppers could only 'ooh' and 'ahh' upon laying their eyes on the young and handsome prince. His graceful appearance was soon foiled as he took a step forward and tripped on a loose tile, falling to the floor face-first.
"I meant to do that..." he grumbled as he was righting himself and dusting off his white and gold suit.
Despite the little accident, everyone in the vicinity was still in complete awe.
That is, everyone aside from one particular raven-haired cheerleader captain, who was staring at him, unimpressed.
"Oh, I remember you," Brittney spoke dully as the prince approached her. "You're that dork from the park, right?"
Shining smiled. "Indeed, I am! At long last, we meet again, my beloved!"
Brittney rolled her eyes. Her arms were crossed defiantly and she was tapping her foot as she spoke, "Whatever. What do you want, loser?"
"I want you, my dearest!"
"W-What!?" Brittney yelled, blushing madly. The spectators around them burst into an ominous whispering. Her two not-friends stared at the boy in shock and disbelief. Brittney's cheeks, at this point, were probably the deepest shade of red known in existence.
"What's wrong?" Shining asked, having no idea why she'd reacted in such a flustered way. "I was saying that I want you to accompany me back to my dimension and become my bride. I don't see what you possibly could have misunderstood..."
"Hold up, hold up!" Brittney placed the palm of her right hand on her forehead and rubbed it as if she had a headache, which she probably did after hearing those words so suddenly. After taking a few seconds to take in Shining's words, she replied, her voice stern, "Let me get this straight. You want me to go to some freakshow dimension and marry you?"
"So I do!" Shining happily proclaimed. He was glad that she understood his intent perfectly. "So, what say you, my fair and graceful Brittney?"
"Listen. I don't even know who the heck you are, nor do I know anything about you!" Was her response, her voice filled with a mixture of anger, irritation, and just downright confusion. Who in the world, or rather who in the whole friggin Universe was this guy?
"Oh, but I know everything there is to know about you, my sweet and beautiful Brittney! The royal spies have inquired everything there is to know about you."
Brittney's eyes grew wide and she recoiled from shock at hearing his words. "You're been spying on me!?" she half-shrieked.
"But, of course!" Shining sighed dreamily, and continued, "And the more I heard, the more I fell in love! They told me everything about you; Your favourite food, your favourite colour, the embarrassing things you have written in your diary. They even told me about that cute little birthmark you have on the bottom side of your left butt -cheek!"
Brittney was left speechless, to say the least. The folks around her, however, laughed upon hearing the last bit of the prince's little speech regarding the birthmark on one of her more personal spots. The raven-haired cheerleader's embarrassment was quickly replaced by pure anger, having been made a fool of by some dandy in white clothes. Her face glowed with a shade of fury and she clenched her fists while glaring at the prince.
Injudiciously, Shining managed to remain oblivious to her boiling rage, and merely said in his normal cheerful tone, "So, what do you say, my beloved?"
End of flashback
"And that is how I ended up with this... 'restraining order', whatever that is," said Shining as he held up a piece of paper and showcased it to Star. Wait, didn't Marco wanna file one of those against her during her first few days on Earth?
Meh, doesn't matter.
What mattered at the moment was the fact that Shining's little 'proposal' had backfired. Star could finally see why he came to her and only waited for confirmation. She didn't have to wait long as the prince soon spoke up.
"As you can see, I've found myself in quite a peculiar situation. If I can't win her over by tomorrow morning and bring her to my Kingdom, I'll have to be wed to the bride of my parent's choice, and believe me when I say that my mother and father are anything but good judges of character!" Shining looked at Star pleadingly. "I've come to ask for your assistance! Surely you know her and can help me unlock the passageway to her pure and kind heart!"
"Oh, definitely! And I don't mean to brag, but Brittney and I are great friends!" Star said, somewhat smugly. Even after all this time, the Mewman Princess still believed that Brittney actually liked her and enjoyed her company, when the case was the exact opposite. Somehow, Star just failed to see Brittney's more-than-obvious feelings of displeasure towards her. She didn't hate Star, but she definitely didn't wanna be friends with the hyperactive magical princess. What would people think of her?
In any case, Shining had no idea of the actual situation between the two girls and smiled gladly at Star and clasped his hands together cheerfully.
"Thank you, Princess Star Butterfly! You have no idea how much this means to me!"
"Call me 'Star'. And you can thank me after we're done with this whole thing."
"Alright then, Star, do you have any idea how I could win her over. After all, who knows what ladies like better than a lady herself?"
"Hehe, OK! To start with, could you please stop doing that?"
"Doing what? Whatever do you mean?" He arched an eyebrow at her.
"That!" Star exclaimed, raising her arms into the air frantically. "Your way of talking. Seriously, nobody talks like that!"
"I talk like that," Shining responded bluntly, unsure what the princess was trying to say. Zora decided to contribute to the conversation, having emptied her glass of milk.
"My master often talked like that when he was doing business."
Star sighed tiredly and smiled at Zora.
"That's different, sweetie. My parents also taught me how to speak formally when talking to other nobles, but using such fancy wording in everyday life is just pointless. I mean, he didn't talk like that all the time, right?"
Zora shook her head. "No. Just when he was doing business. I usually had to stand next to him and serve the guests he was talking with, but once they left he just became a rude loudmouth," she explained, remembering her days of servitude with a bitter frown. Fortunately, she was now living with a better family.
Star nodded affirmingly and looked at Shining. "So, do you think you can stop talking like some diplomat all the time and just relax?"
Shining shrugged. "I suppo-" Star crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him while letting out a low and upset growl. Shining chuckled nervously. "I suppose not... Sorry..."
"Whatever. I guess it doesn't really matter in the end," said Star as she stood up from her bed. She turned her head to Shining and Zora. "I'll just go over to Marco's room and grab a pencil and some paper so we can start making a plan." She stated, deciding to use the method Marco had taught her way back when to help her be a bit more organised. She wasn't really a fan planning stuff ahead, but it did have its benefits. She headed over to the door and exited the room, leaving Zora alone with Shining.
"So..." Zora began, eying the prince. "What's with the stupid name? Did your parents hate you or something?" There was no mockery in her tone, just genuine curiosity.
"Uh... It's a long story..." Shining said and shot her a dull sideways glance. "I'm just glad that they didn't go with the name they'd initially intended to give me!"
"And that was?"
"Sunny."
End of Part 1A
A/N: Yeah, Shining's initial name was 'Sunny' but then I decided that 'Prince Shining' sounded way more troll, so I went with it.
Anyway, as always, thank you for reading and feel free to leave a review and a favourite! I'll see you guys in about 2 weeks (going to visit my relatives and won't have much time to write since I'd rather spend time with them)
Bye!
Expected update: In 13 days.
